The Wall Street Journal reports on the activities of AmeriGas Propane, which got tough with its 6,000 employees. Many of the workers were aging, and 44 percent were smokers. Health costs, predictably, were rising and the health of the workers was declining.
The company gave employees and covered spouses a year to have all required checkups and screenings. If they didn’t do it, they lost their insurance.
AmeriGas offered carrots as well as sticks — the checkups were free, and co-pays were reduced or eliminated for medication for certain chronic conditions.
No one was required to do anything about the results of the tests, but there are some anecdotal stories of workers finding out about dangerous conditions and changing their lifestyles to become healthier. So far, no one has lost their insurance, and company officials say at least 90 percent of employees are up to date on their screenings.
It’s not a money-saving program, at least in the short run:
AmeriGas projected that the screenings would cost about $500,000 in 2008. Mr. Katz declines to give the size of AmeriGas’s health-care budget. But he says health costs in 2008 were at least 3% higher than they would have been without the program. He attributes the increased spending to the cost of additional exams and follow-up care.
Read the full article here.
Tags: prevention, Wall Street Journal, wellness
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